Pompeii
by DarkHeart89
Summary: She smiled and looked towards the ceiling. Jade had always been an Athiest, but for once - she believed. She'd been sent Beck; he was recompense for what her life had become and for those few short months, she'd been truly happy. / If your close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing, change, at all? / AU Bade, slight sexual innuendo. Posted on the wrong account.


Pompeii

**Summary: ****She smiled and looked towards the ceiling. Jade had always been an Athiest, but for once - she believed. She'd been sent Beck; he was recompense for what her life had become and for those few short months, she'd been truly happy. **

**Rating: T**

**Pairing: Bade**

**AN: This is based on a prompt I was given to complete before Valentines Day, and of course out of three prompts I picked the angsty one because that's typical of me, I can do angst better than I can write in general. This might have a happy ending.**

**1. Character A is admitted into a hospital after and accident or medical problem arises, whilst in the ward they meet the sickly Character B, who - as time progresses- only seems to become sicker. Their time spent together; watching TV, playing games or simply playing around in their room blossoms into a strong friendship (or something more) as Character A spends their days working with B and reassuring them that everything will be fine. After a short while, A is released and visits regularly only to show up one day to either;**

**1. Find that B died over night  
2. Be informed that B's medicine or rehabilitation is beginning to work**

**Let's see how this goes, shall we?**

[OoOoOoO]

Beck could hear them talking, outside of his hospital room like he wasn't there. His Mother never really approved his ideas and she hadn't approved of this one even more now that the repercussions were evident. It wasn't as bad as it sounded, he hadn't contracted AIDS from the needle, and it was just Hepatitis C. They'd be putting him on a lot of medication that would make him weak. It really wasn't **that** big of a deal, they'd cure him and he'd be out in a few months time.

They'd have him going for a twelve-week trial to make sure it was working, but he was pretty optimistic when it came to the idea of it. He'd been wheeled into the long-term medical ward with a hoard of cancer patients that didn't seem to dishevel his attitude at all. In fact, it made him friendlier in some cases.

He brightened up faces and Beck loved working with people. That's why he'd become an actor, he loved performing and he loved making people happy. It was the little things in life.

"Now honey, you're going to be okay in here, right?" His Mother had initially been the worrier; no one could blame her. The chance of him extracting Hepatitis C from a needle had been minimal, but it had happened. They'd have him on peginterferon and ribavirin, whatever those were. He'd have the choice after the twelve weeks were up [depending on how his case persisted] to either get the choice of another line of medication to be put on or a liver transplant. Just for safekeeping, they'd already put him on a list for a donor. Beck didn't think he'd need, but his Mother surely had.

Beck put on his brave face. "I think I'll survive, I have plenty of company and the meds will do me good. I'll be fine, Mom; don't worry." He insisted, doing his best to calm the woman. His Father had always been the cool, calm, collected one [similar to how he managed things], but his Mother was always the worrier, always the protective parent. But he was twenty-three, he'd be fine; he had a long life to live and wasn't planning on letting **Hepatitis** beat him.

Her face soured at the joke, the fact that her son was coping with this so easily was irritating Marilyn Oliver. "As soon as you get out of here and you're cured, we're getting that tattoo removed."

Now it was his turn for his face to sour. "You must be joking. After all of this, it'll just be more of an interesting history behind it! I had to keep the tattoo. It certainly was enough work for it." His fingers absently tracing the outline of the words through his hospital gown.

Marilyn just sighed, shaking her head. "Get better, baby." Kissing the top of his head like a child, before walking out because she couldn't take seeing him like this. The chance that she could lose him over something as trivial as a tattoo made her want to cry her eyes out. He was her oldest, it'd kill her to see him die.

After his Mother had left, his main nurse came into greet him with a vivacious smile. She was a pretty Latina, if Beck knew he wasn't going to spending a scandalous amount of time with her, he probably would have flirted with her for the sport. "Hi, I'm Tori Vega and I'm the nurse for this section." He could see the way she was batting her eyelashes and tossing her hair out of habit that she was **very** interested in him. He'd been on the reciprocating end of these reactions ever since he was thirteen.

Beck plastered on a charming smile. "Nice to meet you Ms. Vega, I'm Beck-"

"Oliver." Tori finished for him with a coy smile. "I know. It's a pleasure to meet you as well; we'll be seeing a lot of each other these next twelve weeks. I-"

"Oh shut up," Came a voice from behind the curtain; gruff, but feminine, it was a voice nonetheless. "Are you going to get me something to eat or am I going to have to press this red button for the hundredth time while you take care of Jersey boy over there." A smile wound up spreading across Beck's face.

His nurse rolled her eyes and sent him a weak smile. "Yes, Jade," She said through clenched teeth and hurried out the door. Beck could distinctly hear her muttering about how the demon had finally awoken or something along those pretenses.

Prior to this, Beck hadn't even known there was another person in here; she'd been so quiet up until this point. But he couldn't say her little interjection wasn't humorous. At least he'd had someone with a good sense of humor to spend these next twelve weeks with.

"Hello?" He said hesitantly, tapping on the curtain, before it was wafted away, the rings clinging as it swallowed up the privacy between the two beds, revealing a pale girl. She would have been beautiful, if not for sickly pasty tinge of her skin. All color had been washed away, but her brilliant gray eyes remained. She was still one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever laid eyes on. But what surprised him was her full head of hair. As much of a stereotype as it was, usually cancer patients [which he was guessing she was] lost a majority of their hair, but she still had hers; even with the addition of colored streaks. It was exotic.

"Hi." She greeted flatly. She wasn't much one for talk apparently, because she was soon becoming immersed with all of the papers scattered around her. They were on her lap, her side table, nearly toppling in piles on the edge of her bed. It probably would have been more affective if she would have put the rail up, but he didn't want her snap at him. She seemed like the type.

Beck pursed his lips. "What's your name?" He attempted to prompt conversation. He'd usually been good at it, but so far he was a little off his game.

"Jade West, I have melanoma and I've been here for the course of six months. I'm currently on Cryosurgery that is being extremely not helpful. My blood type is AB+ and I'm allergic to practically every medication they could possibly give me." She re-stated as if she'd memorized her data sheet, before looking up and smiling at him coyly, a bitter underlining. "Any more questions?"

Beck frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess not." Instead, fingers clutching his bed sheet and rolling the rough material in his palms. "I'm Beck."

"Yes, I heard the conversation between you and Vega. Speaking of Vega, when is she going to be back?" The girl sat up on her knees to squint and try to peer out the door, "You're going to need a flirting partner and I'm not your willing participant."

"Flirting partner?" He repeated in question, raising his eyebrows. Did this girl really think she could figure him out in two minutes?

Jade's eyes returned to his. "Yes, flirting partner. Clearly, you're one of those people who are overly flirty to the female species because you give off an aura of self-confidence and absolute self-worth. You act like I haven't run into people like you throughout my entire life; think again, Casanova." She finished sharply, the word coming off of her tongue and nipping him right in the ass. "Besides, two sick people flirting is more depressing than watching a puppy get kicked."

Beck laughed and he was pretty sure that just infuriated her further, but he couldn't help it. She was a bit spot on, but also pretty bitter. It was endearing in a way. That and he really liked her last statement. "What? Kick a lot of puppies, West?"

Her eyes flared. "Flirt with a lot of girls, Oliver?"

"Touché." He retorted with a shrug, knowing when he was beaten.

"Thought so," Jade said to herself and returned to her work just as the nurse returned with a plate of some kind of prison-like gruel.

Jade looked up, taking one look at it, and then going right back to Vega. "Finally, you bothered to show up. I was worried my stomach lining was going to eat itself like the melanoma's doing to my soul." She sickly joked with a smirk when the sympathetic look etched itself on the nurse's face.

"You aren't the only patient I have to take care of, Jade." Tori reasoned.

Jade exhaled. "But the most important one," She jerked a thumb in Beck's direction. "Although based on your two's interaction, he's really on a high priority list in your mind; why I'll never know." The dark-haired girl snickered at the way the Latina's face reddened at the mention and she stalked off, making a series of animalistic snorts.

_I was left to my own devices_

_Many days fell away with nothing to show_

It was silent for a few moments; Beck was letting the scene that unfolded before him sink in. "Do you always have that effect on people?" He asked, manuveuring himself to face her. Jade immediately stopped writing and set her pen down, leaning up to look at him questionably.

"What effect?"

"You know," He insisted, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought. "The kind of psychologist way of getting into peoples' heads. Screwing with them; like Sharon Stone's involvement in Basic Instinct."

Jade shrugged. "I like to think I'm capable of rewiring peoples' heads, but I'm not conceited and allow myself to let the jest of that statement get to my head." She smirked. "Unlike some people who give themselves too much credit in general."

Beck made a noise. "I don't give myself too much credit."

"Contradicting yourself there, Oliver?"

"Hilarious."

Jade responded with that same smirk. "I know. Now if you don't mind, I have to cut our conversation short so I can swallow the mystery meat, if I'm lucky, it's human."

_You've been here before?_

_How am I gonna be an optimist about this?_

To say that Beck's conversation partner [considering he apparently needed to have a partner for everything, in Jade's opinion] was inactive would be accurate. Jade had done an awful lot of sleeping the past week and had made it uneventful, minus the nurse spilling some orange juice all over herself and his little brother came to visit with his Father. His brother was eleven and named Benji.

Beck was doing fine, the medication was little wavering on the energy he had, but that fact alone didn't make him sink into the dumps willingly. He still got up whenever he could. Luckily, his IV extended enough that he could. He was hoping he could ween himself off it and instead suggest taking pills so he could be more mobile; rotting here wouldn't do anybody any good.

It was halfway into the second week of being there when he finally woke up to catch Jade awake. When Beck had asked about it a few hours earlier, Tori had informed him that Jade had undergone some excisional surgery. It wasn't the surgery that had worn her out, but the dosage of morphine had certainly taken care of all her sleeping needs.

In a way, Beck had missed her sharp tongue and was glad to see she was finally awake.

"Well look who finally woke up," Jade quipped upon noticing his awakening. Despite having been doing a lot of sleeping herself, she did look better and there was even a slightly darker tone to her skin. "Done your sleeping for the month already, Oliver?"

Beck made a face and waved a dismissive hand at her. "Could say the same for you, you've been knocked out for nearly a week. I don't think a stampede of buffalos could have woken you."

A pleasurable smile spread across her face. "Morphine is a wonderful drug, whoever made the compound certainly deserves my thanks."

"Was that a smile I see?" Beck playfully teased, his overall mood brightening now that she appeared to be happier. Something about her had the control of his moods, the attachment might be growing a bit too far.

Her smile dropped and she bared her teeth. "Whoa Kitty, keep the claws in, would you?" Beck continued half-heartedly trying to light her up. He really only wanted to see that smile on her again, it was a good look.

"How adorable." She admonished, not batting an eyelash.

That's when Beck got an idea and he got up. Over the days she'd been sleeping, he'd finally managed to convince them to put him on pills instead and he could move freely around the ward. It was nice, he liked mobility and it kept him from feeling like a lump.

He padded over to her bedside and pulled up a chair, earning a scoff from her. "What are you doing?" She asked skeptically, obviously not having been this close to him before.

"You're always huddled over these papers all of the time, let's play a game or something, be more productive than paperwork." He offered good-naturedly, raising his eyebrows at he awaited her reaction.

Jade scoffed. "That sounds worse than the paperwork."

"Come on," Beck prodded, nudging her arm and not ignoring the shock he felt, jerking him back in his seat. He hadn't touched her at all up until and he wished he'd done sooner. A warm feeling pooled in the bottom of his stomach that he had to swallow down with a smile: "It's fun, it's called Dimes."

"Fine, but only for five minutes. If it hasn't got my interest by then, the game obviously sucks."

"I'll show you." He promised with a smile, pulling out a pack of cards from underneath his bed. He'd had Tori get them; she'd practically do anything for him, the poor woman.

_And the walls keep tumbling down_

_In the city that we love_

Jade hadn't ever felt like this, this certainty, this happiness. Beck was relentless in trying to get her to be apart of things and stop wallowing in her own demise. The fact was that she wasn't getting any better. She'd practically done every treatment except Chemo [she wouldn't go there, if she was going to die, she was going to die at least partially looking like herself]. If she were meant to survive this, she would have been cured already.

Every day Beck would come to her with a new idea, something new they should do and it definitely kept things interesting. She did her best to put on a poker face and not allow him to see her pain. He was one of the only people she could muster up some energy to care about. She didn't think that would ever happen.

"Hey Jade," Beck said once she'd woken up, greeting her with a lovely smile. She'd weakly returned it, hoping he'd play it off as just a morning smile. Jade had never been fond of mornings and Beck knew that. "I have a new idea."

She wrinkled her eyebrows. "What kind of an idea?" Immediately she felt too tired to get up and do whatever he was proposing, but instead he went to their shared bathroom and put on a jacket and hat over his hospital gown.

"I'll show you." He set down a jacket, hat and boots in front of her. "Put them on." He ordered, an almost childish look on his face. It'd only been five weeks of getting to know him, and he already had her doing things out of her comfort zone.

Jade raised a once pierced eyebrow. "What? Why?" She immediately began to scrutinize. "We are **not** leaving this hospital."

Beck's face fell. "Oh come on Jade, you come across as the rebeliess type, it's not like anyone would see us? I made sure of that. I got Tori to block off some exits for us."

Jade scowled. "You think that I'll be able to get around? I haven't gotten out of his bed for months, how do you know there's even enough circulation in my legs to walk?"

A mischievous idea grew in Beck's mind. "That's an easy fix."

_We were caught up and lost in all of our vices_

_In your pose as the dust settled around us_

"Beck!" Jade screeched continually as Beck raced the two of them around the hospital halls, dodging nurses, beds, gurneys, and the occasional security guard. She wouldn't say that she couldn't laugh at all of the efforts he was making to make sure she had a good time and a good day. He was sweet on her and she knew it. Maybe she was a little sweet on him too.

"Don't worry, we're almost out!" Beck assured her, liking the feeling of her in his arms and without that IV sticking out of her arm. It looked like she was holding up well and this probably not a good idea, but he had seen her lay there for the past five weeks and get worse. She wasn't even that good at mustering up retorts anymore, she needed a little fun.

And that's where he came in.

It took a lot of stomping down flights of stairs, but finally they flew out the door and Beck kept running, looking like a mad man. He didn't stop running until he was out of breath and they were a few blocks away from the hospital. He'd had an inexplicable amount of energy lately.

He resituated her in his arms, looking down at her. "You cool, Jade?" He asked and she gave him a thumbs up, her eyes shut as she leaned her head against the crook in his neck; it was calming.

"Mm-hm," She hummed. It was a little chilly, it was late fall in L.A. and the temperatures usually got pretty low. Exactly why he'd provide the jacket and hat. The last thing he needed is her to get pneumonia in her weakened state.

"I'm going to bring you to my house, okay? I don't want to bring you around anywhere else, I don't want to make you catch a chill." Beck insisted.

Jade snorted. "If you didn't want me to get cold," She rasped. "You shouldn't have taken me out of the hospital in the first place. I have all of those mind-numbing meds in that heater of a room."

Beck made a face. "Exactly what you should get away all the more. You need a break from the morphine, you need some people and some cheer beyond me." He persisted in trying to get her to let up. She was a stubborn one; he'd grown to know that in their extensive amount of time together.

Jade bit her lip. "I'm not a **family** girl, Beck. They won't like me, no family ever has. It'd be a mistake to bring me there. We should just go back to the hospital." She wasn't going to watch another family pretend to like her, that's how it had went her entire life. Every time she'd go home with a boyfriend, the family would pretend to like her snide comments and her dark appearance and her sarcasm, but she always knew it was fake; always.

"If I like you, my family will." Beck was sure he hadn't smiled as much as he had in his entire life than when he was with her these past five weeks. His family would adore her.

_Oh were do we begin?_

_The rubble of our sins?_

Beck's family had been more than welcoming, after the initial worry; Jade doubted they'd ever had a cancer patient brought home by their son, it was a night of firsts. His Mother had apparently a banquet set out as if she were the queen, Jade wasn't very hungry but took a few small bits of things to please the woman. She had a pleasant smile and demeanor; the last thing he wanted to do was tarnish it.

Beck's Father on the other hand, treated her with a sense of respect that made her glow. He didn't give her sympathetic looks or tell her she was too pale or bat an eyelash when she told them she had melanoma. Frankly, he kindly transitioned the subject away from her sickness and back to Beck's progress.

But what caught her attention more was Beck's eleven-year old brother, Benji. A sweet little boy, who was probably going to be a heart breaker like his older brother. She couldn't help but return the smile whenever the boy looked at her. She didn't mind kids, so long as they weren't toddlers or infants.

Everything had been going flawlessly and Jade was feeling a bit better [despite the lack of good news the entire week, no treatment had been affective], she'd asked where the bathroom was and was barely down the hall when she heard it. She'd been expecting it.

"Why did you bring her here?" Jade paused to grasp the doorway to the bathroom, listening carefully as Marilyn Oliver interrogated him. "She's clearly very sick, you shouldn't have even left the hospital!"

"Mom, you don't get it. We've both been kooked up there for a long time, her longer than me. We needed to get out so we wouldn't turn into white noise; I thought coming here would bring a smile to her face, okay? I can't stand to see her stay there with everything being thrown her way." Beck argued, and her heart gave this little jump that she hadn't felt in years. "She needed this."

But Marilyn was insistent. "What happens if she's contagious, Beck? Are you willing to jeopardize your brother's health for **her**?"

Beck narrowed his eyes. "She has melanoma. If anything, hepatitis is contagious. But I'm past that point. Stop hitting on her so hard; she's here for some fun, that's why I brought her. Let her have it, Mom. Let me have it with her." Jade could tell by the tone of his voice that he was very passionate when it came to being her defense. She can't she expected it, because she didn't.

Marilyn's eyes lit up with recognition of what was unfolding in front of her. "You love her, don't you?" She gasped.

All Jade heard was dead silence for a few minutes and she swore she started holding her breath, nails digging into the wood frame. Here came the denial, he couldn't possibly love her; she was going to die.

"Yeah, I do. Just - I want to be there for her, Mom. I thought coming here would be a good option. Can we just stay the night? You can drive us back to the hospital first thing in the morning, I just think it's better if she sleeps on a decent mattress with the probability of getting bed sores being minimal."

Jade clenched her teeth and tears brimmed in her eyes. He cared about her, he loved her. How could it be? No one could love someone so sick, it didn't make sense. Why would he care? What made him different?

She disappeared in the bathroom as soon as she heard footsteps and sank to the floor, burying her face in her hands. She was going to die and break his heart. Her situation had just gotten far worse.

_Does it almost feel like,_

_You've been here before?_

"Jade?" Came the hesitant voice of Beck, peering into his bedroom. Jade had seemingly disappeared after her bathroom trip and he'd been scouring the house for her. He didn't know she'd even known which room as his.

He found her curled up on his bed, in the fetal position with a sorrowful look on her face. It broke his heart.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, springs squeaking as he sat down to get a good look at her. Her sniff indicated that she'd been crying and he was hesitant about wrapping his arms around her; throwing caution to the wind, he did it anyway and enveloped her in a strong embrace.

He felt her stiffen in his arms, feeling the wet imprint of teas stain his shirt. She seemed so sad, he wasn't sure what he could do.

"N-No, I-I'm fine," She muttered out in the most unassuring tone he'd ever heard in his life. She was the epitome of **not** fine!

Beck resituated his arms around her frail body. "No, you're really not. Tell me what's wrong," He offered in a sweet tone, brown eyes boring down at her. Jade wriggled slightly in his arms and sighed.

"I'm dying, Beck. I can feel it. Every day I get closer to death. This is why I hated birthdays, they make me get one closer to death. If anyone told me at twenty-two that I was going to die, I wouldn't believe them. But I am, I'm going to die, Beck." She poured out, tears streaming down her face as she spoke, voice getting more shaky with every breath. "None of the treatments are working; none of them. It's hopeless, I'm going to die." She sobbed, fingers arching forward to clutch his shirt, burying her head in the fabric.

Beck felt the sting of tears prickling at his own eyes and he sniffed. "No, don't say that." He insisted; bringing hair that was in her face, out of it, tucking it behind her ear. "You're not going to die, you're going to live. I promise. You can't die, if I live, you're going to live. We're going to be fine." He said sternly. "Both of us."

Jade shook her head. "I heard your conversation with your Mother," His cheeks flamed in remembrance. "Even she knows I'm at the peak of death. You told her you loved me and I can't let you love me, Beck. I can't. You don't know me. All you know is the miserable, depressed version of me that's full of sickness. I used to be beautiful before all of this, I used to be spunky and snarky, but now all I am is a pile of bones."

"You don't know me, you don't know how terrible I can be either. You can't love someone when you don't know them. You can't, it'll save you a lot of pain if you just ask to be transferred to another ward." Jade insisted, even if it killed her to say it and it killed her even more to see Beck nodding along with her words.

"It would make it a lot easier," He agreed.

Jade could only nod and swallow down another cry. She felt so vulnerable and weak, this was worse than how she felt after a round of treatment; at least then it had only been a physicality.

Beck clutched her hand in his, intertwining their fingers and using his other hand to tilt her chin up. "Easy's boring, Jade. You're everything I could have ever imagined wanting. So what, your case is hard. I can handle that Jade. I'd rather have you for a few days and live the rest of my life living off of that bit of happiness than not have met you at all and not have that happiness." He told her, running his thumb over her palm. "And in spite of myself, I know you're going to survive. You're not going to die. Relapses happen, but so do miracles. You have to believe Jade, you're your biggest critic."

"You're crazy." Was all she could say, shaking her head in disbelief; Beck Oliver had never came across as this kind of man with they first met.

"Crazy for you." Beck said with a corny smile that elicited a scoff from her lips. "Now let me show you how much you're worth to me, let me give you something that you know you can come back to."

Jade knew what he was implying and was no way going to tip toe around the suggestion, but was hesitant when it came to **his** health and his alone. Whatever happened to her along the way was worthless; she was practically on her way to the butchers. "Are you sure, it's okay? You said it yourself, relapses happen." She wasn't even worried about him being contagious; she couldn't contract any more diseases when she was already going to die. She wanted him, simple as that.

Beck laid her down, letting his body hover over her. "I'm not worried."

_But if you close your eyes,_

_Does it almost feel like_

_Nothing changed at all?_

He pulled the clothes his Mother had borrowed to her from her body, revealing porcelain skin. She was so flawless, even when it came to the scarring along the small of her back from the removal of a section of melanoma. It was wide tissue that twisted across the expanse of her back, but all he did was admire it and press his lips to that spot over and over again.

His lips were every where: her shoulders, her neck [he particularly paid attention to that spot], her stomach, the small of her beck, her wrists, her fingers, her thighs, her calves, the bend of her knees, and right where he knew she wanted him the most.

Pleasure scorched in waves off of her body as soon as his tongue found her spot and she'd never felt such a massive amount of pleasure until now, now only on a physicality basis, but on an emotional and mental as well. Every part of her were sent into a thrumming that had even the slightest movement tingling. The moment his tongue swept over her clit made her hips cant forward, the most high-pitched of sounds escaping her.

His name was repeatedly called as she was sent in her first orgasm and she swore she'd never been so worshipped in all of her life. She felt so alive just by those few touches; that it took her a moment to grasp the bittersweet reality she was in.

He brought her down from her peak with some absent kisses on the apex of her thighs, while he scooted up to trace patterns on her body, eyeing her with such a loving expression that she forgot who she was; who'd she been in the past years of her life; and who she was going to be in a few short weeks.

With a new rush of adrenaline, she rolled to align their hips, sitting now on top of his waist. It was meant to be a teasing notion, as she now allowed herself to be the one to worship the man beneath her. She spent extra time tracing the thin, carefully-crafted lines of his tattoo on his abdomen, the words: "Buy the ticket, take the train." in beautiful cursive along the toned, tan skin beneath her fingertips.

The quote was powerful, the meaning behind it just as much. Look what he was going through this because of?

She didn't have the energy to do anything along the lines of what he had done for her, but she did her best to leave him quivering along her thighs.

Beck was rasping practical prayers beneath her until she finally sank down onto him and rode. He was a bit leery of allowing her to use so much of her energy for his benefit, but the feeling the soared through them immediately washed any of his worry away.

He was going to be an optimist about this; she was beautiful and all his. That's all he wanted right now. And when they both shared a simultaneous completion, every line of sanity broke in his mind and he was left a mess of absolute feeling.

He'd never felt better; and neither had she.

_Does it almost feel like_

_You've been here before?_

_How am I gonna be an optimist about this?_

"Jade, your **visitor** is here." Tori shrewdly announced, peeking her head in the corridor. No longer was there anyone else in the room but Jade, and she was okay with that. It was more of a privacy factor. That and she'd become worse for wear in the past weeks and didn't exactly like a lot of bright, **alive** faces seeing her in this condition. Not like she got a lot of visitors anyway.

Jade opened her eyes tiredly, glancing towards the door to see the face of Vega disappear and be replaced with that of Beck. Immediately her eyes lit up with a new interest and she managed the largest smile she could hold.

Beck grinned at the look on her face, his hand staying behind his back as he made his way around the beds before standing in front of her. "Okay, so I know you're not a flower girl or anything, but I couldn't help it." He set down a bouquet of dark roses. "They seemed like you, in a way."

Jade stretched a hand to stroke a few of the pedals. "Thank you," She hoarsely told him, blinking in his direction as he came and knelt down next to her, taking her fingers in hand and intertwining them with his.

"I missed you," He kissed her palm. "It's a shame the hospital's visiting hours are so stern or else you know I'd be staying here all night." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she made a noise that was supposed to be a laugh; it sounded more like a choked noise.

"They're already pretty lenient." She rasped, watching him. "But that's only because you were a patient." She finally grasped a little bit of her voice and put some sentences together for his benefit. She tried feeding him the whole 'I'm getting better', but even he knew that her time was running short.

"**Were **being the operative word, babe." He looked a lot brighter now that he was out of the hospital bed and she was glad he made a speedy recovery. Only twelve weeks, the doctors said they'd never seen a case like it. Beck had insisted it was because of Jade, he said it all because of her. Jade even got a little choked in remembering in how he'd said he'd finally found something to live for.

Beck's grinned brightened and he brought their conjoined hands to let hers rest against his chest, kissing the pale flesh briefly. "Just like you. You'll be out of here in no time. I'm looking forward to it, than I'll be able to have you all to myself without the security guards around here watching us like hawks." Security hadn't made themselves apparent yet, but both Beck and Jade knew that it was bound to happen.

Jade mused silently to herself. "You can't blame them; you practically kidnapped me." She was attempting to be light-hearted about the situation. She would never have said such things to anyone if she was alone. She'd always been a good actress, she could pull off the most difficult roles; at least in high school.

"Hey, that was for **our** benefit!" Beck weakly defended, getting up and shoving the railing of her bed. "But while they're not here, I'm going to take advantage of my free reign." Her scooting over to accommodate him, but that was unnecessary because he wrapped her tightly in his arms anyway, liking the feeling of her body next to his.

She was chilly, he was a heat lamp; it worked out.

"You're going to get yelled at," Jade forewarned with the hints of a smirk, rolling her head to lay adjacent to his chest, immediately calming. She looked forward to his daily visits; it was the highlight of her day. It gave her a reason not to sleep the day away.

He squeezed her forearm once. "It'll be worth it." He smoothed her still ever-present raven locks off of her face, staring down at her. "You're beautiful, absolutely breath-taking today. Did you do something different with your hair?" He asked and that gauged a choked chortle from the female.

"Oh you're Mr. Funny Man." She mocked under her breath, cheeks growing heated from the attention. "Just hilarious."

"No, I'm serious." He insisted, fingers tracing her jawline and the swell of her cheek, pupils rolling down to gaze at her face. He really did find her beautiful; every crevice, every scar. It irritated him that no one had told her that.

"Mm-hm," She hummed, staring up into those intoxicating brown eyes before he grasped her jaw softly and led her into a gentle kiss. Immediately she exhaled happily and lifted an arm to drape around his neck, returning it with muddled passion. Her energy was lacking, but what she felt for him was still beating madly.

"Once you lovebirds are done, I have Jade's breakfast." Both broke apart to find an aggravated nurse standing in front of them.

Jade simply smirked. "Sorry." She really wasn't.

The next few weeks by quickly and Beck was starting to actually believe what he continually tried to drill into her head. She **was** getting better, she was starting to have more energy and her breakfast consisted of more than just pain pills, she was **actually** starting to eat.

But Jade knew what was happening and she was forcing herself to be able to do all of this; to swallow choke full after choke full of hospital glop to appease the man beside her. She even tried to get up a few times [with the aid of Beck, she didn't let anyone else touch her]. She knew that Beck was becoming more encouraging and believing she was going to make it out, and sometimes she was so caught up in the act, she started to wistfully believe it herself.

That she was going to get out of here, start a family with Beck, get married, get her directing job back, grow old with him. And then the sinking reality of her situation met her with nausea and dizzy spells, and she was reminded that it was all her act.

Just an act.

Jade forced herself to get up that morning, getting out of bed and clambering over the railing to go and lean against the window, looking out at all of the people walking down across the hospital. This was the more metropolitan center of Los Angeles and it was alright, it made her view better. It also made her view of seeing Beck coming to visit nearly perfect.

Every day she got him checking in a taxi's rearview mirror if his hair looked pristine and perfect, and if he didn't have anything in his teeth. It was cute - really - that he went to so much effort when she looked like a rag-a-muffin all of the time. It was a shame they hadn't met when she was in her prime, she'd been beautiful then.

But she supposed this state that the nurses had helped her with would work.

Jade had to sit down for a moment, the strain of walking was wearing her, so she'd sit and wait to hear the familiar tread of those combat boots and then get up and greet him with a hug. She wanted to make this day count, she didn't know how many she had left. She'd requested her doctor and nurse to not let Beck know about how her respiratory system was shutting down, it'd kill him.

"But Jade-" Dr. Shapiro had tried to reason with her, making a series of wild hand gestures. "Leading him on like this is going to make the end result all the more fleeting! What do you think he'll do when he comes a morning, expecting to find your face and instead finding an empty bed? What then?"

Jade had drearily sent him a glare. It was different. He had a wife, a beautiful woman named Caterina; he had a life to live. She didn't. All she had was Beck and she wanted to make their final moments together worth it. She deserved a bit of happiness after this wasted life.

"I'll be dead and he'll live, do I have to take out diagrams?" She had hissed; hintings of her old voice was starting to come back. "He'll go to my funeral, he'll mourn me for a few months, and move on. I won't stand in his way, I'll be dead."

"Jade, he looks at you like how I look at my wife. It'll hurt him to know that you were getting worse and putting on this façade just to give him false hope! He loves you, Jade; he really loves you. This isn't like the normal hospital romance; he came back for you. Don't hurt him anymore than you have to." The doctor pleaded. Clearly, he was more of a softy than she'd figured he was.

She'd thought about it, long and hard. And knew what she was going to do.

Beck walked in and stopped in his tracks, looking at her face. "Jade?" He asked through wide eyes. She released the prop of the window and looked at him, really looked at him.

"Do you love me?" She asked, doing her best to ignore all of the grovel of her tone and let her husky flare of feminine voice seep through.

Beck furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course, I do." Before he re-evaluated this situation. She looked - normal, normal. She had make-up on, her hair was done, but the hospital gown was still on. She looked just like she before, minus the few exterior fixtures. She'd done this for him, he knew it. "But why are you-"?

"Marry me." She told him. "If I don't come out of here," His protest was quick on his tongue, but she stopped it. "I want to know that I was once your wife. I want to be able to have that little piece to take with me." Normally she wouldn't offer this, she didn't believe in the charade of marriage, but this love affair had changed her opinions of a lot of things. "There's a priest in the lower offices, I can send for him, it'll be easy."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Jade?" He asked her.

Jade nodded her head. "More than anything."

So they did. They married. It was a short ceremony because Jade got impatient about all of the fuss and glam of the words, and skipped right to the "I do" stealing a kiss from him before the priest uttered the words: "You may now kiss the bride." She'd always been forward in that extent.

By the end of the night, she was Mrs. Jade West-Oliver. The title made her smile, to know that **that** would be on her grave. Everything seemed to go so fast and the day breezed by. He was very wary when it came to leaving.

"I don't want to me leave my new wife." He had said to her, earning a rare smile. "A celebration is more appropriate, don't you think?" He'd winked to tease her.

She kept a steady grip on his hand. "Security'll be through this door any minute, I'd rather you leave voluntarily than watch you get dragged away like prison bate." She quipped right back, smirking in his direction.

Beck smiled, running his thumbs over hands. "I suppose you're right, they'll be plenty of time for celebrating when they discharge you, I can feel it coming close!" He insisted, if only she could believe that. He dropped her hands with one last brush of his thumb and let down to kiss her forehead. When he pulled back, he smiled at her. "I appreciate all of the facial reconstruction," He joked and once again, more snickering, he was on a roll today. "It was nice, but unnecessary. You're always going to be beautiful in my mind.

'**Even when I'm a corpse?'** She thought.

Two security guards stalked in and Beck sighed. "There's my cue," He pressed another sloppy kiss to her cheek. "Get some rest, babe; love you!" He insisted, turning around to face the male and female security guards, draping arms over both of their shoulders as he walked them out. "So, did you guys hear I got married?" She faintly heard as his voice and the footsteps trailed off.

She smiled and looked towards the ceiling. Jade had always been an Athiest, but for once - she believed. She'd been sent Beck; he was recompense for what her life had become and for those few short months, she'd been truly happy.

When the next morning came and Beck walked through the hospital doors, going up the few levels on the elevator and stepping into Jade's section, her door was closed. It was **never** closed. He reached for the handle when a hand came to wrap around his wrist, a familiar hand.

He looked up to meet Tori Vega's eyes, so full of sympathy and slightly brimmed with tears.

Her next word choice echoed in his head for the rest of the day, a constant onslaught of pain as he dropped the bouquet of flowers he had this time, dropping to his knees and bowing his head as he cried and cried.

"She's gone."

Jade West-Oliver was dead.

_Grey clouds roll over the hills_

_Bringing darkness from above_

_But if you close your eyes,_

_Does it almost feel like_

_Nothing changed at all?_

_If you close your eyes,_

_does it almost feel like,_

_nothing_

_changed_

_at all?_


End file.
